A light breeze swept across the Aurelithae’s room, the layers of silk sheets hugging and spreading over her legs fluttered at their trims, allowing the wind to tickle her soles beneath them. Her attention moved up, keenly peering across the room, first thinking Grimslaukh came once more to visit her in his own, peculiar way but as the seconds passed whilst her ornamental clock ticked, she saw nothing but the small, draconic husk moving into the room. It crawled across the floor with soundless steps, then huddled on her lap and purred like a cat when she gently fondled its rugged, ridged back plated in scales.

  “You should be asleep.

  “Strange hearing care from your lips.” Said Aurelithae as her gaze lingered not on the primordial intelligence appearing like her twin, wearing the same high collared night gown of a dramatically rich, deep and intense purple, bereft of any wrinkles even as she made small adjustments in her sitting. Its luster remained brilliant, oozing with an ethereal elegance that lapsed onto the dimmer, indigo trims.

  “I am attuned to you wholly. I feel the tiredness seeping through you, and it is not to my taste.There is no point reading with weights of Oneiron upon your mind, my dear little Aurelithae.

  Aurelithae sighed, wordless as she stared at the cover. She wished to retort, but nothing came of her mind, only the dread of becoming useless. Witnessing her father’s loss at the hands of Mirayroth at first felt thrilling, hopeful but the more she mulled in the passing months, the more the fear crept and burrowed into her mind. Aurelithae’s gaze remained fixed upon the book, her one chance to save the world, achieve the dream of her sister, her uncle, her people. Yet she felt little motivation, on top of seeing Mirayroth could kill Terrianis himself. A task which still seemed impossible to her, which created the swiveling cycle of fear morphing into anger.

  The anger nearly spilled the words out forming in her head, throat. But inhaling the fresh and pleasant summer air, Aurelithae maintained her cool. “Order awaits within the pages Dumath. The sooner I decipher these, I can be of use once more.”

  “Order and answers shall await you in Oneiron too. Refusing will just strengthen the hold of chaos more, and trust me, he still has need of you. Just be patient, he is occupied with matters beyond Luth-Astaril and even Elhyrissian itself. Particularly now that the hour nears.

  “What do you think Typhaon? Should I rest, cease my studies for the night?” She looked down at the creature, curled into itself upon her laps and the soft silk mantle of sweet dreams.

  “In dreams, you shall find your answers.” Typhaon lifted its peculiar head which gained a bit of length in the lower areas, making him resemble more a dragon. His eyes gleamed in a strange, mysterious mélange of purples, blues and golden as it answered from its forming muzzle.

  Aurelithae inhaled deeply the air, the book vanished from her hands, back into its hidden compartment in the floor. Then she laid down, closed her eyes and at once found herself standing upon the soft emptiness of dreams.

  Interminable inkiness surrounded me as I fell into the womb of Oneiron, yet I could feel myriad sensations all across my soul, my mind. Sand coarse and mushy from the blood of the contenders, my own severed arm and the legionaries whose golden panoplies reflected the beloved hues and shades of Mineirvia upon my eyes. I could feel the pain and the soothing which came from Dumath relieving the weight of it to help me focus, and the chilling winds of Dusk mingling into lukewarmth as it clashed with the brilliance of Dawn.

  I saw neither, but felt their presence not far ahead, down their wills clashed.

  Smooth harshness flattened my soft palms, as I once more peered over the bulwark of the suite. Strange winds blew as the faux spells, wills clashed before me, yet even as I parted away from the railing, walked onwards, only the darkness awaited. With each step closer, I pondered why Mirayroth not seized life from father. He had the power to kill the unkillable, he could have teleported or flown up the sky, unleash the might of Night and sit upon the throne. He could reshape the Empire into a fairer form, impose a new order upon it. But he willingly relinquished the opportunity, stayed his hand and simply seeded chaos in the city once more.

  He just cycled back the peace of the capital back to disorder, and now dozens die daily. Is there aim true or is it just a lie and I am a tool to be used to achieve their true goals. Am I content with the fall of our dream to come true, or I still am a pawn of others.

  “You are neither. A lost dragon who fears irrelevancy.” As I turned, Sigi smiled at me, and at once I felt all the worries of these past weeks and days evaporate. Long has it been since we last met here, and it felt nice meeting one who harbored no deep secrets, only little ones.

  “Quite poetic.” My soft chuckle echoed into oblivion. “Truly, I am lost yet I fear what I shall become on either of the paths ahead of me.”

  Though as he approached and sat down, I noticed his confidence greater than ever, his face more manly as the first strands of his beard tillered his handsome face, nearly as dark as his hair and the one ethereal eye which at first brought unease into my heart, now bewitched me queerly. And for the first time, I sensed his wintry fragrance of cedar mingling with honeyed fruits and cinnamon, thick yet not suffocating. Was it because of the distance between us or he controlled it as we do? What a simple and pleasant thought.

  “I learned a little of it, as I learnt of the crippling responsibilities you carried for decades, and even now.” His hand felt soft and firm at the same time, wrapped in black gauzes as a dark mist emanated from between the overlapping cloth of a dull silk or linen.

  “Do you possess a solution for my ailments?” I asked, involuntarily in a sardonic tone.

  “In a way yes and no.” A cryptic smile adorned his countenance. He reached into his flowing, yet stiff black coat’s pockets, pulling out a pearl gleaming black and deep purple near the edges, within its heart an almost white shimmered as brilliantly as the Illius. “Words shall not part the clouds of doubt from your head. Sensation, witnessing parcels of the Past on the other hand could give you the last push you need, just as I needed to peer beyond what the brilliance of Dawn blinded us to.”

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  “What if I choose wrong?” I asked. He gently placed the pearl in my hands, there was a little sadness in his smile as he mulled on the answer.

  “You will make no wrong choice.” And it faded with his answer, then Sigi stood up and raised his right arm. His forefinger curled up, a claw blackened into the shade obsidian peeked out from under the folds of cloth, and scraped against the nothingness as he drawn a circle in the air. A portal opened, the same shade as the pearl I held whilst standing beside him.

  “Will you come with me?” The question came from my own unsure heart.

  “I shall. I shall stay by your side till the end.” He held my hands, facing me as an equal, and I nodded. The only thing I was sure at that moment, was to not do this journey alone.

  Our soft footfalls echoed across the all too familiar corridors of the Radiant Keep, in the dorms where I slept amongst my kindred. Light shone brightly through the unbolted windows; myriad banners fluttered whilst fastened to the marble walls, each emblazoned with a dragon of diverse shapes, features and colors. A few I recognized belonging to my brothers and sisters away on the continent, their soft silken and velvet tapestries danced vigorously with joy, whilst the cruder and unfamiliar tapestries remained still as the warm vernal winds followed our steps.

  “So, this is where you live and dream.” A peculiar interest lingered in Sigi’s tone as he measured his steps, matching my slower.

  “I do. Mostly just dream and study in secret, most of my days are spent on the lower levels honing my being.” We neared my sister’s room, where I spotted a tall, hulking praetoreath standing in golden plates, trims black as charcoal whilst from his helmet, a long, well-kept beard tumbled upon the divine heraldry of Mineirvia. The man felt familiar, yet I could not lift out his identity from the River of Memories.

  I heard his deep, echoing voice triumph over the knocks upon the polished door. It slowly creaked open revealing the bright and warm countenance of Calaviril, draped in a fine gown of three uneven layers. A silvern mantle flown down her shoulders, slightly thicker and with a smoothness and glossiness attributed to liquid quicksilver, the trims embroidered in the same black shade as her hair. Then came a secondary layer draping taut over her torso, sliced broadly in the middle of a bright red and pink shade, brocaded with dancing feline and avian dragons in the same silver as the cloak layer. and the last from which the sleeves, the skirt continued down her form, matching the citrine shade of her eyes and scales whilst from its round neck, a collar crawled onto her neck, slit closed up nearly to its turned-over brim.

  She asked with her cheeks slightly reddened.

  Was all the praetoreath could utter as he himself appeared enamored, breathless at her sight. Yet he had enough strength to pull out his arm and she took it.

  Sigi followed his example after a little pondering, and I took it with a light chuckle. “You know it isn’t necessary.”

  “I know.” Was all he answered, turning his face away as he surveyed the corridor with keen interest.

  As we followed them, the corridor swirled into an astral storm, losing all detail besides the bright, vibrant colors of a maelstrom staring right at us. I tightened my grip, feeling the ground slip from beneath us. Then it all returned into discernible shapes and forms. A long, red carpet with gilded serpentine trimming led up to the broad dais found within the Grand Cathedral’s main hall, slithering on the steps even. On our sides, members of the high nobilos sat still in the rows of pews rearranged into half an arc each. At the foremost rows, sat Calaviril, Drussaev and many of my siblings, awaiting patiently, then arising as the gates opened with soft and slow bellows.

  There I stood, with the air of father, my head held high, my crimson hair voluminous and kept with a low bun above my nape, above the stiffened collar of my sumptuous prismatic dress. A quick dizziness passed over me, followed by the longing of seeing a certain future, if I take the other path. If I remain on the path the Eight and father intended for me from the beginning of my life.

  “Why show me this?” I asked involuntarily, staring at myself passing before me. A powerful waft focused my gaze onto myself as I continued on, a faint smirk upon my lips.

  “He is a queerly fair one.” Sigi answered, watching me with a solemn gaze. The ceremony of my ascension to the throne began. I could not lie, it was thrilling feeling, hearing, seeing all the claps, all the cheers I received as I brightened the day just as Terrianis did on his own ceremony, as Primuinis did on his own. It was tantalizing, but I saw the three shadows holding my shackles, trailing along furtive on the ground. As they smiled knowing their vision shall continue onwards.

  “Has he shown you something similar?” Despite feeling foolish to ask, but could not help myself from doing so.

  “He did. I witnessed what my bygone dreams would have led me to. I felt the power, the strange joy it bought, but also what it would cost me.” As I looked at him with surprise, noticed the deep dourness lingering in both his azure and gifted eye. Around us the scenery darkened, all the people in the cathedral withered into shadows and corpses cheering and clapping whilst my own form assumed the future awaiting me on my path. Noticing my gaze moving down at his draconic hands he smiled and unwrapped the gauzes. “It was no price, but a gift of the Night. It is a long story; I wish to tell when we meet in flesh. But tell me, what is the source of your wavering. You are not afraid to waste this path away, that is clear to me too.”

  “Do you know of Mirayroth?” I asked.

  “Only that he was one of the two agents sent to infiltrate the heart of the Empire.” The scenery shifted once more, we stood in the throne room, no longer in a possible future, but in the past. I knew as I faced mother, who entered lone whilst father deeply pondered upon his throne, too occupied with his thoughts to notice mother approach with her hands twisted behind her back, clutching a peculiar dagger with black blade and onyx pommel reflecting ripples of midnightly violet.

  “After recent events, I am unsure if I am even necessary to kill father. Mirayroth presently I feel would be more than enough to carry out this task. A task I feel would be foolish to leave to chance.” I watched as mother called out to father, who vanished from the throne and manifested before her, a smile upon his countenance that warmed even my own heart. He held his arms wide, and seen the same love many of my siblings desired to see upon his chiseled perfect countenance.

  Sigi chuckled at my words and I felt a bit embarrassed, focused on the scene of the past, of my mother lifting the blade as she embraced Terrianis. “It is true he could carry out the task alone himself.” He relapsed into silence just as the blade penetrated into my father’s back, and he collapsed before hurling mother across the space, twisting her neck with a secondary spell.

  Sigi walked over me, now I just noticed how tall he grew since the last dream we spent together tracking ephemeral lands. He lifted my head up and spoke gently, I saw in both his eyes a bit of regret for simply sniggering at my words. “But doing so would rid you from the chance to unshackle yourself from the decreed fate. And I can say with confidence, you lack not the power, merely afraid to step through the threshold as I myself faltered staring into the great unknown beyond. But as I wasn’t alone, you are neither. Dumath shall aid you no doubt, as shall Typhaon, Mirayroth and all the others for whom you are salvation itself in averting the crack of doom.”

  “Thank you.” I whispered, sensing the dream crumbling around us, the light of morning penetrating through this false reality. A light pleasantly tenebrous.